1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is telecommunications systems architecture, or, more specifically, methods, systems, and products for expanding telecommunications services beyond the capabilities of the Public Switched Telephone Network.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Public Switched Telephone Network, or “PSTN,” provides what is sometimes called in the industry, “POTS,” or Plain Old Telephone Service, that is, just phone calls, not call forwarding, no call waiting, no Call Screener Service, no Follow Me Service, just Plain Old Telephone Service. Modem telecommunications services aim to improve on POTS, and some of the more modem services do so by tailoring their service to specific customer requirements. In order to tailor a service to a specific customer requirement, a service needs access to specific customer information, information often stored in a customer location rather than being stored in a location more central to a service.
There is some tension, however, between the need for access to remotely stored customer-specific information and access to information in a central database of a telecommunications service. If a telecommunications service is expanded to acquire direct access to remote customer databases, such expansions risk intermingling customer functionality with telecommunications functionality so as to increase security risks for the central telecommunications databases. It would be advantageous, therefore, to have a way of expanded telecommunications services that require access to remotely available customer specific information in a fashion that is modular, portable, scalable, extensible, and secure.